Recently, there has been a growing interest in the eco-friendly products as well as health care because of the high quality of living. For example, the flooring materials that are in close relation to the living life have the trend towards the materials capable of providing eco-friendliness and sound insulation. Besides, restrictions on the materials used in the manufacture of such flooring materials are increasing these days.
The conventional flooring material as disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2004-0065494 is mainly a PVC material. More specifically, the conventional flooring materials have a multi-layered structure including a balance layer, a cushioning layer, a dimension-stabilizing layer, a print layer, a transparent PVC layer, and a surface treatment layer in a bottom-to-top order.
However, the conventional flooring materials, which are dominantly PVC materials, contain a toxic phthalate-based plasticizer to emit harmful substances such as endocrine disrupters and toxic gases (e.g., hydrogen chloride) when burnt during the waste incineration or on fire and remain almost permanently in the nature when disposed in landfill, causing a serious problem to the environment.
Although the flooring material has a surface treatment layer on the top to prevent scratch and contamination, the surface treatment layer becomes worn out in process of time to expose the underlying transparent PVC layer. When in contact with human body, the harmful substances released from the transparent PVC layer made of a PVC material may have an adverse effect on the human body.
In addition, with the noise between floors becoming a serious social problem in recent years, there has been an urgent demand for flooring materials to minimize the noise between floors.